TCU's Patterson unhappy with refs, takes swipe at Mayfield

AP

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — TCU coach Gary Patterson was admittedly upset with the officiating, especially the intentional grounding penalty against Kenny Hill when the 21st-ranked Horned Frogs had the ball for one last drive in a 52-46 loss to Oklahoma.

Patterson also felt there was a lack of holding calls.

And that all led to an apparent swipe at Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield.

"I got a quarterback who writes a whole article on me, how I treated him wrong, but I can't talk about officials," Patterson said after the game Saturday night. "Bottom line, I wasn't happy with the officiating. Not one time did we get a holding call."

Mayfield faced TCU for the first time since saying at the Orange Bowl last year that TCU was the team that disappointed him the most in recruiting, and claiming the Horned Frogs "kind of drug it out" without offering a scholarship while he turned down other offers.

There was also an ESPN The Magazine the article in August with Mayfield's parents criticizing Patterson and TCU for how the quarterback was treated during the recruiting process.

Mayfield then initially went to Texas Tech in 2013 and became the first walk-on freshman quarterback to start a season opener for an FBS school. He transferred to Oklahoma after one season, then sat out the 2014 season before leading the Sooners to the College Football Playoff last year.

Mayfield overcame two lost fumbles against the Horned Frogs by throwing for 274 yards and two touchdowns. He also for 55 yards and two more scores, stiff-arming a defender in the zone on the first one.

When asked afterward what the game meant to him personally, Mayfield responded that it was huge to start conference play with a win and never mentioned Patterson.

"Everybody was saying our season was over, but to start the conference off 1-0 against one of the better teams in the conference, especially on the road, it's going to be a confidence booster for us," he said. "Personally, just moving forward, it's great to see the offense have some success and realize our full potential."

Patterson and Mayfield both had both insisted before the game that everything was in the past, with Mayfield even saying things were blown out of proportion.

The Horned Frogs led 21-7 in the first quarter, getting their first score on the first play after Mayfield's fumble in the opening minute of the game. But Oklahoma outscored them 42-3 in the second and third quarters before TCU scored touchdowns on three consecutive drives and had one more chance.

After Oklahoma kicked a field goal, TCU took over at its 28 with one timeout and 1:49 left in the game.

There was a false start penalty before Hill was sacked for an 8-yard loss while a penalty flag was thrown. Officials then huddled and decided it wasn't a penalty, ruling that Hill was outside the tackle box when he threw the ball. But they then got back together and decided that it was a penalty and charged TCU with a loss of down.

Hill then had an incompletion and was sacked again before the Frogs called their final timeout. A fourth-down pass intended for Taj Williams, who had two long TD catches, was incomplete.

"We can't say anything but they can say whatever they want to. I don't really care right now if the commissioner, if they don't like what I think about the officials," Patterson said. "We had one touchdown where they just tackled my guy. Talk about sportsmanship in this game."